Hacker Tool Tip – The Hemostat

Hey, so I thought I’d start posting some of my tools and uses for other aspiring hackers. This first tip features the venerable hemostat, also called a roach clip in other circles.  An essential tool from holding your parts and wires while soldering to assembling a circuit on a breadboard. I bought my assortment from several places such as a ham swap meet and online surplus stores, but the best place was a tool booth in a local flea market. They had all sorts of useful little hand tools, but then vanished. Guh, typical.

Impliments of tortu... uhh... construction! Yeah, that's it I use them for making things.

It seems most soldering requires an extra hand that’s not available. Luckily there are many extra hand devices on the market, which I bought, then converted to a stand for a different purpose.  Rather than buying another I used the tools available as a makeshift holder. By using a heavy pair of any plier-like tool with  the handles are stuck through the finger holes on the hemos and my part is held in the air. Another heavy object or my soldering hand weights down the setup to keep from moving.

Act now, and this tool will also include a free heat sink!

Ta da, that wasn’t very complicated. Next week I’ll show off how I keep some of my junk organized.